Bob Hope comedy with Dorothy Lamour. |
You can find more information regarding this film on its IMDb page.


This movie is part of the collection: Comedy Films

Director: Elliott Nugent
Producer: Daniel Dare
Production Company: Hope Enterprises, Paramount Pictures
Audio/Visual: sound, color
Keywords: Comedy; pdmovies

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: sirderek - - June 26, 2011
Subject: Bob Hope at his best.
A laugh a minute at LEAST... Definitely worth watching. I never thought that Bob Hope could be so funny, he fit the part perfectly. Peter Lorre was great as the villain knife thrower too.

Reviewer: ohsnapiam56 - - October 13, 2010
Subject: Bob Hope at his best!
I love Bob Hope in the movies. I remember laughing at his movies when I was a kid! Much better than his stand-up routines. And Peter Lorre...the knife scene is hysterical and I still wonder how they did that scene...great editing. I have the dvd and can slow it down...still wonder. Dorothy Lamour and Lon Chaney Jr round out a great cast. A funny, funny movie!

Reviewer: Fireball Steve Zodiac - - July 7, 2009
Subject: the funniest moment
for me is when the old lady orderly comes into the room, Bob is behind the door and attacks the orderly and she flips him off his feet over her shoulder into the bed.

this rest is fairly typical Hope and Crosby stuff. And if you're wondering when Bing makes his appearance, if you left early you missed it, he's the executioner at the very end.

Reviewer: billbarstad - - June 7, 2009
Subject: A good one
This is as good as most of the Hope/Crosby/Lamour 'road' movies. While tedious at times, there are enough gags to make watching it enjoyable.

I downloaded the mpeg2 file. Video and audio quality are good, though there are small pieces of several scenes missing.

Reviewer: robowan - - June 7, 2009
Subject: GREAT FILM! [btw munkyman, bad bad monkey]
Enough grandstanding about who can appreciate what in this day and age. *Anyone* who appreciates nostalgia, comedy, sexy leading ladies, old-school horror flicks, or just a darn good comedy will definitely appreciate this. I've loved Bob Hope since my first 'Road' film as a kid, had a crush on Dorothy Lamour since around that time too. Peter Lorre and Lon Chaney Jr., yeah...loved the original horror flick genre. Every element of a good story is here, great acting by good actors, comedy, suspense, beauty...it's all here. One of Bob Hope's best.

Reviewer: Freddie Jaye - - September 5, 2008
Subject: I can't stand Bob Hope...
...and he STILL made me laugh. It starts off with Hope's character granting a final interview from his cell on Death Row -- before he's executed as a murderer. "Bob Hope as a killer?" you say? That's just the beginning.

As his tale unfolds, you'll run into mistaken identity, tips on baby photography, secret identities, lies, a trip to a sanitarium, conspiracies, more lies, mayhem and an unusual way of cracking walnuts. What more can you ask for in a movie?

Download it NOW. You won't be sorry.

Reviewer: carla_ - - January 12, 2008
Subject: game
That's funny -- I like hip-hop *and* I was able "to get the humor" of this movie. Even better, I too "appreciate the great story." Hmm. Maybe there are such things as monkey-men after all.

Either way, yes: This is a pretty sweet movie. Watched this originally because I'm a Peter Lorre fan. Truth be told, I'd never seen an entire Bob Hope movie and -- SURPRISESURPRISE! -- I was most impressed with all that I witnessed.

Reviewer: munkyman - - June 25, 2007
Subject: at the top of his game
This is one of those great classic comedies I never get tired of. Bob Hope is at the top of his game and this movie helps us to understand why he was one of the biggest stars of the last century. If you watch South Park and think Rap is music, then you’ll never be able to get the humor or appreciate the great story. Even the opening theme music took more talent to compose and orchestrate than anyone doing soundtracks today could possibly imagine. Outside of Mel Brooks and Woody Allen, movie makers are not making films that will be enjoyed 60 years from now.

Reviewer: DanOctober - - June 22, 2007
Subject: Download THIS movie!
This is one of my favorite movies. Dorothy Lamour and Bob Hope are a great team. Hilarity ensues.This is a MUST download. You won't be sorry. It's too bad they can't make movies like this now.

Reviewer: moxey - - January 12, 2007
Subject: Excellent
Bob Hope, Peter Lorre and Lon Chaney Jr. in the same film?
What more do you people want?
This is an excellent film.Hope is spot on with the gags and Lorre and Chaney work off each other
brilliantly.
A five star film in the public domain...Love it!

Reviewer: 5chevy7 - - November 9, 2006
Subject: Location
This is one of my favorite Bob Hope movies. I live in Northern California and I found the beautiful house featured in the movie on the 17 Mile Drive in Pebble Beach. When I first saw the house I was sure that it was the same so I took a picture of the house and then bought the VHS (this was about 20 years ago) and compared the picture I took to the movie and son of a gun it is the same house. The house looks the same as in the movie, beautiful.

Reviewer: LaMarr Bruister - - January 2, 2006
Subject: My Favorite Brunette
A terrific film noir spoof featuring Bob Hope. Very fun and entertaining.

Reviewer: Grimwig - - December 3, 2005
Subject: Genuinely Amusing with Little Complexity
Firstly, it may seem rather harsh to give this film only three stars, as it is thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining. However, I rate films on a basis of depth. Standing alongside such films as "Beat the Devil" or "My Man Godfrey," two outstanding comedies the archive.org collection, it simply does not meet the expectations of what film can do.
That being said, there are some interesting things to watch for in this film. The first is that the whole film is a respectful parody of the hard-boiled detective genre. The parody is that our protagonist is neither hard-boiled nor detective, yet clearly comprehends the stereotype far better than the stereotype detective we meet at the beginning.
Indeed, this very fact is what makes the parody plausible--and it is so very rare to find a plausible parody. For in Bob Hope's character, you'll find an interesting character study of a man so inundated with the impressions of pop culture, that he moulds his every utterance to suit the image he wishes to live up to as represented in films and novels. In the protagonist's case, it is a complete idealization of the P.I..
Wherefore the parody ensues, with Hope's obsessive character spewing lines of such artifice, you may wonder how he got away with it. And that is what makes the film impressive in its own right: that Hope does get away with these contrived lines, and only because the character is what he is.
Hope's character never drops this ideal throughout the film, and his own personality is eventually subsumed by the ideal.
That is the limit of depth in the film. Everything else happens, not for the sake of an astonishing, complex plot, but as hooks from which to hang countless jokes, especially one-liners.
The resultant film is highly entertaining. You have to think more than in modern comedies (e.g. Adam Sandler), but you have to think less than masterpieces like "Beat the Devil," which is likewise a parodical (rather satirical) view of the genre.
However, comedy is supposed to involve less thought. I said the same in my review for "My Man Godfrey." "A Midsummer-Night's Dream" is deceptively simple, though Chesterton called it to greatest of Shakespeare's works.
Nevertheless, this film is no "A Midsummer-Night's Dream," nor even a "My Man Godfrey." I rest my case on three stars. Though I wanted very much to give it more, I can find nothing in it deserving the elevation, with two possible exception: If you truly understand the genre, you might be able to find greater worth in how the parody is carried out; and the sheer art of the one-liner is pushed to the limits in this film. These, however, are merely speculations.
In short, for those who want smart comedy, this is one. For those who want complexity of plot, themes, and characters with it, "My Man Godfrey" is a better bet. For those who want mindless comedy, go find an Adam Sandler film and forget about culture.

Reviewer: jimelena - - December 2, 2005
Subject: 4 stars?
Oh come on, this is one the best in this collection. It's well written, well produced, well acted, well directed. What's not to like?

Reviewer: drowsybaker - - November 4, 2005
Subject: "You can open the mailman later."
This is one of my favorite Peter Lorre movies. I never tire of the exasperated expression he has when he's trying to plant something for Bob Hope to find. Hope plays Ronnie Jackson, a baby photographer with dreams of becoming a P.I. Through a case of mistaken identity, he ends up finally getting a case through Dorothy Lamour. Hilarity ensues. There's an endless supply of one-liners from Hope: "The kind of a house that looks like you could hunt quail in the hallways." Love it.

Reviewer: kareneliot - - November 4, 2005
Subject: Stick with it.
I was tempted to turn it off halfway through, but I stuck with it, and I am glad I did. It kept me guessing and was enjoyable.

Reviewer: Stephen Durnin - - March 29, 2005
Subject: Oneliners galore
The story is not great and a few minutes seem to be missing but there are lots of wisecracks here delivered brilliantly by Bob Hope. One can clearly see the influence on early Woody Allen. Certainly worth seeing if you like comedy. I cannot give more than three stars, though, as it is not a masterpiece.
Alan Ladd and Bing Crosby have cameo roles.

Reviewer: Jah Gussi - - February 27, 2005
Subject: My Favorite Waste of Time
watch edit bored delete the lot and any backups, it will still be here when I'm gone.

Reviewer: gentle ben - - February 11, 2005
Subject: How did this get into the public domain?
My Favorite Brunette is perhaps the best film I have viewed in the Feature Films section of the Internet Archive. It is funny, both because the writing is first rate and because Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour execute their parts well. It is every bit as good as an average "On the Road to ..." film. How in the world did this film slip through the cracks and make it into the public domain?